Goodbyes
by Maethorwen of Atlantis
Summary: They knew this would happen one day. They just never wanted to admit it. They never wanted to think they would have to say goodbye to someone else. Post Reset. Sad One-shot


**Goodbyes**

Summary: They knew this would happen one day. They just never wanted to admit it. They never wanted to think they would have to say goodbye to someone else. Post Reset. Sad One-shot

Disclaimer: Not mine. Not making any money.

Note: I realize that something happens and Owen doesn't stay dead apparently, but being in the States I don't know what happens yet. This idea popped into my head right after watching Reset and demanded to be written.

Jack sat in his office. He had already had way too much alcohol. He just didn't want to face the reality that Owen was dead. And it was all his fault. If he hadn't sent Martha in there then Owen never would have been there. He let out a sigh before taking another drink. It was always his fault. Always. Whenever someone died it always seemed to be because of him or a decision he made. Maybe that was part of this curse of seeming immortality. He would live forever but he would cause the deaths of others. He never should have come back. He should have stayed with the Doctor. Owen might still be alive then. He couldn't help the tears now. Even he had to cry eventually.

"I'm so sorry, Owen. I failed to protect you. It should have been me," Jack said softly. He added, "Goodbye Owen."

He knew he was talking to himself but he felt he had to say it. He took another drink.

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Gwen sat at her desk in shock. She kept telling herself over and over that this couldn't be happening. Owen couldn't be dead. He just couldn't be. Jack had told them all to go home but none of them had. Gwen didn't want to go home and face Rhys right now. She knew why Jack had told them to leave. He was blaming himself for what happened. She knew that the moment Jack went into his office. Gwen knew it wasn't Jack's fault. They all did it seemed, except Jack. She knew Owen wouldn't want Jack to blame himself. Tears began to fall as she thought of Owen and everything that had happened between them. She kept hoping that she would wake up and that this would have all been a nightmare. But she knew that when working for Torchwood things like this were always real.

"Goodbye Owen," She whispered softly through her tears.

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Ianto tried to busy himself by tidying up the place. He needed something to do to keep himself from thinking about it. Sure he and Owen hadn't always gotten along. Yes there had been some things said that probably shouldn't have been. But that didn't mean Ianto wasn't going to miss Owen. They were so close all things considered, the whole group of them. Not all of them realized it, but it was true. When you did the kinds of things that they did, you always want to be able to talk to someone who understands. They were like a family. The two of them along with Gwen and Tosh had gotten even closer while Jack was gone. When Jack came back that stayed the same, but Jack was brought into it to. They were family whether they all realized it, or even liked it, or not. And it's always hard to lose a member of the family.

"Goodbye Owen," He said looking toward the medical wing.

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Tosh stared at her computer screen. She was practically frozen. She didn't dare go home to try to sleep because Owen's pale, dying face was all she would see. He had just agreed to go on a date with her and now he was dead. She couldn't believe it. How could it all go so horribly wrong so quickly? She found herself blaming Martha for it all. Things were going just fine until she came along. Tosh sighed and forced herself to push that aside. She knew Martha really wasn't to blame. She too knew that Jack blamed himself, but like Gwen she knew it wasn't his fault. Tosh knew there was only one person to blame and that man now had a bullet through his head courtesy of Jack. She didn't even try to stop the tears cascading down her cheeks.

"Goodbye Owen," She managed to choke out between sobs.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Ianto standing there. He pulled her into a hug.

"I know it hard, Tosh. There's nothing anyone can do to make this easier. You just have to keep living because you know he would want you to," Ianto told her softly.

She cried into Ianto's shoulder. She knew he understood how she was feeling, but as he said it didn't make it any easier.

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Martha stood in the medical wing of the Hub. The team members were grieving and she felt she had best just stay out of the way. She blamed herself for Owen's death. If not for her he never would have been there. She thought about going to check on Jack, but she realized he needed some time alone. She had seen the bottles he had taken up to his office. She was ready to go talk to him when she realized that none of the team was. She had a feeling he was grieving in his own way and needed to be left alone.

Why did it have to go so wrong? Why had she been so stupid? She should have just gotten out when they told her to. Owen would still be alive if she had. She stared at the body bag on the table in front of her. How she wished she could change all the events of the day.

"Goodbye Owen. I'm sorry," She said

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Hours later Jack was the only one still awake. Gwen and Tosh had cried themselves to sleep at their stations. Ianto fell asleep not long later in the lounge. Today had brought back memories he didn't want to face. Martha fell asleep on one of the couches in the lounge area after making sure the others were all right.

Jack knew it was going to be a long, long time before they were okay again. It had been so much easier with Suzie. After everything she had done it was easy to let her go. But Owen…it just wasn't fair.

'No more. No more of them will die because of me.' Jack swore to himself.

If he had to permanently walk away from Torchwood to save them all he would. If he had to Retcon them all he would. He would do whatever he had to in order to prevent further deaths.

'I will not say any more goodbyes because of my decisions.' He thought.

Now he realized why he had stayed away from attachments before. The pain from losing someone never went away.


End file.
